1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a golf accessory, and more particularly to a golf range tee, wherein a golf tee is detachably inserted into the golf range tee to selectively adjust a height of a golf ball being tee-up from the ground while the golf tee is slid to offset to the golf range tee after the impact of the golf ball so as to prevent the golf tee from being broken upon the impact.
2. Description of Related Arts
Golfers practice to improve. Generally, golfers go to driving range for practice. Most driving ranges nowadays use mats instead of growing real grass for the simple reason of keep maintenance cost low. A rubber tee is inserted through an opening in the mat such that when a golfer wants to tee up the ball, he or she is able to place the golf ball on the rubber tee, as shown in FIG. 1A.
Most mats are about 1 inch thick and therefore the rubber tees are at least one and a half inches long. They vary in length, with existing rubber tees range from one and a half inches to three inches long. Depending on how high the golfer wants to tee up the ball, the golfer chooses a rubber tee of specific length. Most of the time, the rubber tee is used when the golfer practices with his/her driver when the ball must be hit off a tee.
With the introduction of oversize titanium driver, the size of drivers can be as big as 460 cc in volume. Some non-conforming models are even bigger. However, a lot of golfers prefer drivers that are smaller in size. It creates a situation where the sizes to drivers vary from 200 cc to 460 cc in volume. It seems like whenever a golfer go to a driving range, the golfer can never find a rubber tee having a desired length. Driving range operators usually offer rubber tees free of charge to their customers. However, it is difficult for them to provide rubber tees of every different length to satisfy every customer. It is because every golfer has a different size driver and may want to tee up the ball at a different height. A lot of times, a golfer practices hitting their driver without teeing the ball at the correct height. The ball is teed up either too high or too low, which produces undersirable results.
Golfers should practice their golf shots the same way they would hit the shot when they are on the golf course. This includes teeing the ball the same height on the driving range and out on the golf course. However, when golfers go to the driving range and cannot find the right rubber tee to tee up the ball correctly, they live with this “bearable” inconvenience. After all, they can still hit the ball if the tee is slightly too high or too low to their liking. They may adjust their swing a little bit to accommodate the ball flight resulting from a ball teed too high or too low. It is a small problem but one that will nullify the practice the golfer puts in.
Rubber tees on the market now are being offered in half inch increments, one and a half inches, two inches, two and a half inches and three inches. What if a golfer wants to tee up the ball at two and a quarter inches? Or practice one shot at a low tee height and the next a much higher tee height? The present rubber tees are just not flexible enough to allow a golfer to do this.
It is worth to mention that golfers should practice their golf shots the same way they would hit the shot with the wooden golf tee when they are on the golf course. The feeling of hitting golf club at the rubber tee as shown in FIG. 1A is different from the feeling of hitting golf club at the wooden golf tee. Also, there is no practice of the motion or pre-shot routine of actually putting the ball and tee in one's hand and inserting the tee into the ground when practicing with the rubber tee since the golf tee cannot directly be inserted into the mat.
An improved golf range tee 10B appeared in the market for a while, as shown in FIG. 1B, which has a rubber base 11B retained under the mat, a rubber tee tube 12B upwardly extended above the mat for about one inch, and a plurality of gripping muscles 13B integrally and inwardly protruded from an inner wall of the rubber tee tube 12B, wherein the golfer is able to insert a wooden golf tee 1B into the top opening of the rubber tee tube 12B until the gripping muscles 13B firmly mount the wooden golf tee 1B therebetween, such that the golfer is able to adjust the height of the wooden golf tee 1B by sliding up and down between the gripping muscles 13B.
Most golfers have standard golf wooden golf tees that are 2⅛ to 3½ inches. In other words, there is about 1¼ inches above the mat for 200 cc drivers and 2½ inches above the mat for 460 cc drivers. If the golfer wants to tee up the golf ball even higher, he or she merely uses a higher golf tee that are available up to 3¼ inches from the golf shops. However, when the golf club properly hits the golf ball, the impact force of the golf club applies not only on golf ball but also at the wooden golf tee. In the golf course, the golf tee will fly off from the grass after the golf ball is hit. However, in the driving range, when the golf ball is hit with a proper golf swing, the wooden golf tee mounted on such conventional golf range tee will be broken at the impact, as shown in FIG. 1B. Therefore, the broken bottom portion of the wood golf tee 1B which is still firmly gripped between the gripping muscles 13B must be removed from the rubber tee tube 12B so that the golfer can insert and mount another new wooden golf tee to the rubber tee tube 12B.
Accordingly, for starter golfers who fail to swing their clubs properly or topping the golf ball, they may generally have chance to keep the wooden golf tee 1B for a longer period of time. To golfers having average skill, they may break the wooden golf tee 1B in every practice swing. It is very troublesome to take out the golf range tee 10B from the mat in order to remove the broken bottom portion of the wooden golf tee 1B and then replace the golf range tee 10B on the mat again after every or couple golf swings. That is the reason that such golf range tee 10B is not popular in market.